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Author on Reedsy Prompts since Nov, 2019
Alem and Tasmin weren’t a new couple. The people in the Tiki bar could tell by the way they sat gently apart from each other, opting to loop a finger or two around the other’s hand instead of draping across each other like so many of the honeymoon couples were doing, becoming more curtains than people. Alem and Tasmin were fading from their marriage, becoming a bit too drawn into themselves to notice how much time they s...
“Clarice! Make me a sandwich! The game’s picking up and I’m getting antsy!” From the kitchen, Clarice said nothing. She opened the fridge and pulled out the lettuce, the tomatoes, the ham, and the cheese. She laid them all out on the counter before sliding open the breadbox and taking two slices of bread. They weren’t the heels, of course, though she often wished she could make her husband’s sandwiches as low q...
I told my sister she was lying when she said she saw you at the grocery store that day. I said, “Stop lying,” and she blinked at me like I’d smacked her in the head. She pressed her sticky hands across my arm and pushed her nails into my skin and she said, “No, it’s true! It’s true!” And even though out loud I said, “Oh, shut up,” in my head I said to myself, “Oh, please be true.” I went to bed that night with m...
Kesi Diya was tired of people thinking she was named after a cheese meal. “No,” she’d start to explain, “I was named after my aunt, it’s a family name…” but by then whoever she was talking to seemed bored. It was almost as though, by clarifying that she was indeed not a quesadilla, Kesi lost her appeal. She’d been on countless dating apps, but how many times had she arrived at her restaurant for her date to lea...
“I made you some tea.” “I don’t want it. I don’t drink tea anymore. I thought I told you.” “You didn’t tell me.” “Well, now you know.” “You’re gonna get cold sitting out here alone.” “Sure, but it beats sitting inside with you.” Nikilina backed up. She hit the back of her legs on the table. It didn’t hurt. “I,” she started, and then stopped, “I’ll just go bac...
warning: bugs. Oh ho ho, what have we here? The cockroaches are having a tea date, it seems, and their little scrambled feet are reaching for the cups as we watch. Do you see their beady eyes? Do you hear their scritching voices, clawing up above the wind? Ah, but aren’t they a marvel. Aren’t they precious? Reach into the tea house, dear, reach into that cockroach tea house- right through the ...
Tea parties make me nervous They kinda make me wanna cry But today I have to go to one And this poem tells you why You see, my name is Elsie And I have a friend named Mac Mac broke up with her boyfriend So we have to get him back Because she really loves him She’s just emotionally repressed But she’s gotta tell him Or else forever be depre...
Beep beep. Honk honk honk. Barayaaaaa papayaaaaa. Chachachakacha. Hufferhachuchcuwasta. Beep beep. Honk honk. The cars file into the parking lot one by one for their monthly meeting. There’s seven of them, ranging from a black Cadillac to a red truck with both its headlights shot out. Beep beep? Vrrrrrom. Baristaaa RRaraoomdiday. They have these meetings every month to reconvene, to talk about their li...
The teacup shatters almost before it hits the floor, if you can believe that. I laugh, covering my mouth, but it’s too late. My grandmother stands up, pushing her seat away from the table. Her dress falls, draping behind her in long, pooling layers of creme colored fabric. I’ve always admired her cheekbones, but now they’re jutting more than ever. She’s mad, of course she’s mad. Who wouldn’t be mad, af...
Appley decided we should have a talk last night, after the whole deal about almost dying and whatnot. I had to stay on her couch anyway because the side of my apartment was wrapped up in yellow tape. It looked like a Christmas present, only dangerous and potentially a crime scene. The police are swarming all over town searching for Willow and Noel, but there’s no sign of them. It’s like they’ve vanished into the smarmy c...
(CW: There are bombs. Nobody dies, though.) Well, that was dramatic. I feel bad, I haven’t posted anything in over a week. If anyone was reading this blog, I’m sorry, I honestly am. I didn’t, like, die or anything. You know, cause the bomb was in my bathroom and all that. The thing is, after I went to go check on that, everything spun, if you can believe it, even more out of control. I’m not sure where t...
I knew the package wasn’t mine because I didn’t have, you know, money to order anything. It would have made sense if anyone cared enough to buy me a Christmas present, but it wasn’t that close to the holiday. My instant thought was not that it would be a bomb- which is was- but maybe that Gina had remembered me fondly and wanted to pay me back for my three dollar kindness. The delivery...
I sent my last three dollars to a girl I met at the karaoke bar last night. Her name was Gina, I think, and her eyes were green. They looked yellow in the lights, though, and she smelled like vanilla and cold metal spoons. She was jarring, with big front teeth and a personality like nails against styrofoam, but she needed money for her bus fare. I had three dollars in my bank account, and now they are hers. I hope she ...
"I hate you, Leroy." "Oh yeah? Well, that's funny. I was fixing to say the same thing about you!" "Why don't you shut up?" "Because I don't feel like it." "I don't feel like listening to you." "I hate you." "I know." The two brothers fall into a deep-fried silence, the air between them static and humid. The only noise is that of a humming engine a...
Emma “Where’d you meet this one?” “Oh, it’s a great story, you’ll never believe it. I was on the bus,” he settles into the chair, shuffling his feet in those loud brown shoes, “And all of a sudden this girl walks in. She’s got this,” hands above his head, miming tall hair, “Pink mess of all these braids and, man, the first thing I have to think is that her brains are ...
"I’ve been hoping someone will love you, let me go.”
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